


This is so Die Hard!

by Shastelly



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A lot - Freeform, Angst, Blood and Gore, Coran (Voltron) Angst, Drowning, Gen, Hunk will punch you, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt Shiro (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith is Holly, Lance Saves The Day, Pidge | Katie Holt Angst, Supportive Coran (Voltron), Supportive Hunk (Voltron), but it hurts, die hard is a christmas movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-12 13:50:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17468789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shastelly/pseuds/Shastelly
Summary: If your last name was McClain and you were stuck in a multi floor building and crazy people were holding your team hostage you might think you were stuck in a movie too. Previously posted on Fanfiction.net with a bow for Christmas. It is a Christmas movie after all.





	1. Chapter 1

"Lance, if you call me Pal one more time or ask me if I am eating twinkies or make any other reference to that movie, I swear I will not be responsible."

"Hunk, Pal, please?" Lance giggled slightly. "You have to admit this is so Die Hard."

"I do not have to admit anything. I don't have to admit you are trapped in the building with bad guys who have taken the team and the diplomats from this planet hostage. I do not have to admit that the bad guys have machine guns and bad accents. I will not admit that I am stuck out here with the planet's military leaders who want nothing more than to storm the high rise building or castle. And I don't care if your last name is McLain. It isn't spelled the same."

Lance laughed softly again. "Hunk, my friend, you go right ahead with your logic and I'll stick to my delusion. I know what movie I am stuck in and I am the hero of the day."

"Lance, you do remember what the hero looked like at the end of the movie, right?"

"Oh that I do, Pal. That I do, but what's a New York cop to do?" Lance tried and failed for the accent. He was crawling through some kind of vent. Still wearing his swim trunks and the shirt he'd grabbed off the first guy he ran into. The one that clued him into there being a problem in the first place. He had been swimming in the pool by himself…

***Flashback***

Allura, Shiro, Keith and Coran were involved in negotiations with the planets leaders, while Pidge and Hunk had been running some simulations. Pidge was in the castle monitoring while Yellow was trying out a new cloak technology that Pidge and Hunk had come up with. Pidge's earlier design just didn't seem to want to cover a lion as big as Yellow. So that left Lance with free time. To be honest he was pretty sure he had offended one of the diplomats when they were first introduced and Allura didn't want him at the meeting. And for totally honesty he was kinda pissed about it and really just wanted to be alone. What the heck really all he did was bow politely. The guys looked like something out of an old Japanese Samurai movie. Was it his fault bowing was somehow offensive in this society? Okay so maybe he should have paid more attention at the pre-meeting meeting when Coran droned on about customs, but that stuff was all so formal and boring. Why couldn't everyone just be themselves and accept that others could be themselves too?

So there he was swimming laps and suddenly there is someone in the pool with him. Someone strong and someone trying very hard to drown him. He tired to reason, talk, but the other laughed. He was thicker than Lance, but shorter. His skin was red and bumpy, but other than that looked humanoid. He was similar in appearance to the people of this planet Lance had met before - Nitomians. Fortunately for Lance , he wasn't as fast as Lance and he underestimated what Lance was capable of in the water.

Lance dove further under rather than trying to get back up the next time his opponent pushed him down. He grabbed the legs of the other guy and pulled him toward the deep end. He didn't know how long this creature could hold it's breath, but he was betting it was less than him. He wrapped himself around the legs keeping the other creature's head below the water. He held his breath and held on. The other struggled for his life, but Lance struggled harder and by the time he started seeing stars and his chest couldn't stand it any longer, the creature had stopped struggling. He surged up and gasped air into his lungs. Floating face down next to him was the one who tired to kill him. Lance had dragged the body to the side.

Lying at the side of the pool was a tunic the creature had discarded along with a sword on a belt and a pair of shoes. Lance was widely grateful the guy hadn't brought the sword into the pool, guess he had looked like an easy enough target. The tunic was too short for Lance, but better than just wearing his swim trunks. He tried to get the shoes on but they were way too small. Bruised, wet, and still breathing heavily, he had made his way out of the pool area. He moved cautiously not knowing who else could be in the castle and wondering why no alarms had sounded. It seemed at that moment alarms started blaring throughout the castle. It was a little too convenient not to be a trap at this point, knowing there were already intruders in the castle.

He made his way to one of the weapons stashes they had in the castle. Shiro and Keith had placed these strategically around the castle after their first run in with intruders. Each cache had a rifle and a radio. Lance was now thinking they needed to add some kind of armor and shoes to these things for next time. He slung the rifle over his shoulder by the strap and clipped the radio to it.

***End Flashback***

"Lance?"

"I will strive to be a prettier picture when this is over." Lance grimaced at the blood running down his shoulder and the bruises littering his body, not to mention his cut and bleeding feet. He didn't want to lie to Hunk, but he didn't want to listen to him puke or fret either. Why couldn't he be stuck in a romantic comedy instead?


	2. Chapter 2

"Lance, are you there yet?" Hunk asked several dobashes later.

"Not yet. I think I'm close, or lost, either very close or lost." Lance was still crawling through vents. He was pretty sure he had followed the directions Keith had relayed from Pidge. His entire body hurt from dragging himself though these more narrow vents. Sure he was narrow enough to fit though them, but he had to army crawl or pull himself though with his arms. On top of that he really hated small spaces, he felt like he could be trapped, ever since the whole frozen and stuck in a pod and then nearly ejected into space thing. It wasn't like he was going to have a panic attack, at least not anymore, but it made him feel like his skin was crawling and he hated it. Oh and the hole in his shoulder was probably not making this any easier.

***Flashback***

The alarms blaring made it had to hear anything else in the castle. Lance made his way through the halls with the constant fear that another assailant would be lurking around the corner. He had tried the radio, but no luck so far. His first move was to try to make it to the control room and secure that area. Pidge would have been there running her experiment with Hunk. The others would have been in the grand hall or the adjoining conference room with their diplomatic guests. As he neared the control room he could hear raised voices.  
"Let me go, you slimy red-faced stinking traitors." Pidge was not happy and neither was Lance when he heard her obvious anger.

"Shut up," growled a low voice. A smack sounded shortly after and Lance had the sinking feeling they'd just hit Pidge. "Stay quiet and do what we say and you just might live through this. We just want what is owed to us."

"I don't owe you anything. We just saved your planet!"

"Saved? Right! The Galra made sure we were taken care of, provided for, are you going to do that for us?" The voice spat out.

"Provided for? Half your planet was enslaved! What kind of care is that? We set you free."

"And who said we wanted to be free? Who cares about the trash that were working the mines? They deserved what they got. Those of us in power, who recognized the Galra for the benevolent leaders they are, were justly rewarded."

"Oh, you have go to be fucking kidding me." Pidge's opinion of this guy was pretty clear. Lance could hear another thump as flesh struck flesh.

He spun around the corner, gun up and ready. Not quite as ready as he had hoped. There were four Nitomians, three similar in size to the one he'd taken out in the pool and one about half a hand taller. They were all armed and two had weapons pointed his way.

"We have very good hearing, human. Put down your weapon and you will join this one in captivity. If you fight us you will die." The largest one spoke. He was the one that had been speaking before.

"Isn't that Blythe's shirt?" snapped the one holding Pidge.

Pidge's eyes were wide with fear. She pulled against the arm around her neck. Her left eye was starting to swell and a cut above her eyebrow was bleeding.

"Where is Blythe?" The large one asked, eyes narrowing.

"Swimming, last time I saw him. How about you let her go and walk out of here and we forget this ever happened?" Lance spoke flatly trying not to let them know his heart was beating out of his chest with worry for Pidge.

"Swimming? Blythe went to get him. He wouldn't just be swimming." The one holding Pidge seemed confused.

The leader did not, "Not now Crog. Put down the weapon or we will fire."

"So will I and I don't miss. You will be the first to go." Lance held the rifle steady his aim right between the leader's eyes. It was because of his focus that he saw the eyes move a fraction to the left. It probably saved his life. He turned in time to catch a glimpse of someone coming up around a corner behind him just as a shot was fired and struck him in the shoulder. If he hadn't moved it would likely have killed him.

Pidge screamed. He dove sideways and fired a shot hitting the guy who shot him. The others were already taking shots at him so he had to retreat. He was cursing himself for leaving Pidge behind, but there wasn't anything he could do without the element of surprise, injured and four on one he'd just end up getting himself and maybe her killed. At least he knew the guy that shot him wasn't a problem anymore, like he said, he didn't miss.

***End Flashback***

Lance cursed all of the movies he had ever seen where the good guys get shot and then walk it off and go on about saving they day. They lied, they so lied because it hurt. Stupid aliens with their stupid projectile weapons, why didn't they have lasers like every other advanced aliens trying to kill him. Laser wounds don't bleed so much. Lance had to stop crawling and try to re-wrap the bleeding hole in his shoulder. Every time he thought he had gotten it to stop he'd end up bumping it or pulling the wrong way and he would feel the warm flow down his arm again. Wrapping your own shoulder is a challenge, doing it in a narrow air vent just sucked. Lance bit his lip to keep from crying out and closed his eyes against the tears and black spots as he held pressure against the wound.

"Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..."

"Lance?" Hunk asked chilled by the tone in his friend's voice.

"Pal, you gotta call me Roy or McClane or John or something. You're messing with my delusion here Hunk." Lance muttered.

"Right, okay, McClain."


	3. Chapter 3

Lance lowered himself from the vent into a mechanical room in the castle. Keith had relayed that this was the best point to take out the particle barrier that was keeping Hunk and this military entourage out.

The minute his feet touched the ground his vision waivered and his stomach rebelled. He fell to his knees and dry heaved for several minutes.

"Lance, I know that sound, I mean, McLain."

"Sorry, I made it to the room. Just need to find that junction of power conduits. Pidge said this was the place to take out the power to the particle barrier without damaging the crystal." Lance decided he didn't really need to walk across the floor when crawling worked just fine. His feet were leaving bloody trails behind him on the floor, the socks he had slipped on earlier were now saturated. He had tried to wrap them, but he couldn't pick out all of the small crystal shards and wrapping just made them hurt more.

***flashback***

He swung around the hall, running, he wasn't sure how long he ran before he realized no one was following him. He stopped to listen and catch his breath. His shoulder was on fire and blood was running down his arm and dripping from his hand. He needed to find the others so that they could save Pidge. Looking around he realized he was near the common room and kitchen. He decided to duck in there as Hunk and Coran had set up a little first aid station for the occasional cooking accident and minor wounds that could be tended in their usual debrief area.

He found a pressure bandage of sorts that wrapped around and then inflated against his shoulder. He hoped it would be sufficient to stop the bleeding. He grabbed a couple more rolls of bandages and shoved them in a small bag he found in the kitchen along with a few hydration packs and some Altean version of aspirin.

He swallowed an aspirin and fiddled with the radio, trying different channels. He didn't really want to give anything away on the radio and the entire situation and possibly blood loss were getting to him so, "The Nakatomi Plaza has been taken over by gunman. Anyone on this channel?" He kept trying different frequencies until finally.

"Lance?!"

"Oh man, Hunk, am I so glad to hear your voice. Tell me you are here with the Yellow Lion cavalry to get the bad guys." Lance felt his knees go weak with relief and found himself sitting on the ground.

"Sorry, buddy, no. I was hoping you could tell me what is going on. The particle barrier is up around the castle. I can't get in. I was running that exercise with Pidge when she just cut off mid sentence. I've been trying to reach someone since then. I finally got this radio amplified enough to get through, but you are the only one I've heard."

"Quiznak. Well, welcome to the party, Pal. Pidge got grabbed by the bad guys. I tried to get her, but I totally screwed up. I don't know what is up, they are Nitomian's who apparently were happy with the Galra overlords and are now mad at us. I don't know where the others are yet. I was hoping I'd get them on the radio, but no luck."

He was just about to tell Hunk how many he'd seen when a sound behind him caught him off guard. A purple skinned Nitomian came through the door to the common room. He looked right at Lance and smiled. Lance dove for cover behind a kitchen counter as the alien lobed a crystal ball like object in the air at him. It detonated as it impacted the wall where he had been sitting. It sent shards of crystal flying out in every direction. Several slicing through Lance's skin on his shoulder and leg nearest the explosion. A second explosion went off further ahead of him in the kitchen and Lance wondered why the guys aim was so bad. Well he wondered up until the point he got up to run for the door out of the kitchen and his feet took their first step onto the floor coated in crystal shards.

"Son of a quiznak!" Lance couldn't afford to stop and there were no other ways out of the room so he ran to the other side of the food goo machine. As he reached the cover a third device exploded and rained even more slivers onto his skin and the floor. Lance managed to pull up the rifle and take a quick look behind him. As he did a shot pinged the machine just above his head. Lance ducked back behind, took a steadying breath and spun back out ready to fire. The creature was right next to him somehow and grabbed his gun. They struggled for several minutes and Lance knew he was in trouble. He was not as strong as the other guy. He was pressed back against the food goo machine, his rifle against his throat and being lifted off the ground by the Nito-creep. 

He couldn't breath, his air was being blocked, flailing his arms in panic he managed to hit the button on the goo machine and green goo shot into his opponent's face. Lance used the distraction to lift his feet and place them on the creature's chest and pull loose his rifle. He kicked for all he was worth and brought the weapon up and fired. The shot went right through it's heart, blood flew from it's mouth and the creature, hands reaching out for Lance, fell onto the crystal strewn floor.

"Lance!" Hunk's tiny voice was screaming over the radio. Lance reached down and took a Nitomian gun off of the body and put it in his bag. He got to the door and then decided he'd rather crawl than walk. He managed to duck into a closet a little further down the hall. He knew he'd left a trail and he wasn't safe here, but the pain was overwhelming. His inflatable pressure bandage was deflated and his shoulder was freely bleeding and his feet felt like someone had turned them into ground beef.

He sobbed as he tried to pick the larger pieces of crystal from his feet.

"Lance, please answer me! Lance are you still with me?"

"Yeah. But all things being equal, I'd rather be in Philadelphia. Chalk up another bad guy."

"What? Lance I swear I only saw that movie twice and both times because you made me." Hunk was relieved to hear Lance speak, but he had heard the exploding and screaming and crying.

"It's not fair that someone sent the bad guys the script too. Seriously shoot the glass! I mean did they have to get that memo."

***end Flashback***

"Hey McClain, how you doing man?"

"I been better, Pal. I see the junction box. I'm going to need you to walk me through this when I get over here. I don't know exactly what I'm doing and I don't plan to blow the castle up." Lance managed to crawl to the junction box and blessed and thanked whoever had placed it low enough that he could reach it from a seated position.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, thank you for the comments and kudos :)

"Okay, McClain. You need to take the blue wire and cross it with the green wire from the extra radio." Hunk patiently instructed Lance as he rigged a radio into the junction box. If all went as planned he would be able to trigger the particle barrier to drop using his radio or Hunk could do it using his if needed or Keith could use his if it really didn't go well.

"Okay, wired up and ready to go. I just need to put the cover back on here." Lance carefully laid the cover back on, it didn't fit perfect, but unless one was looking really close it wouldn't show up.

"Lance, are you sure you are up for this?" Hunk asked concerned. Lance had been sounding quieter and quieter as he worked.

"No. Don't have much choice. We talked about this, PAL," Lance emphasized the name, "your army buddies come in guns blazing and these jerks are just going to quiznacking kill everyone. They want the Galra back. Even if they can't deliver Voltron and the castle, killing all of us would go a long way to making that happen." Lance sighed. He wasn't doing good; he knew that, but there wasn't anyone else that could help him. It was just him or Keith, Pidge, Shiro, Allura, and Coran and all of those good guy aliens were going to die. They'd already killed a couple of them, so he knew they wouldn't hesitate.

***Flashback***

"Paladin, come out. Surrender yourself. We know you are still on the ship there is no way off." The voice of the head alien from earlier echoed across the castle's speaker systems. "If you come in now, we won't even kill you. You can wait with your friends to be turned over to the Galra. We have them all here, you know - Shiro, Keith, Pidge, Allura, and Coran, along with six of the pathetic excuses from my planet who think they are fit to lead. There were seven, but it seemed I wasn't being taken seriously. That is no longer an issue."

Lance wondered if the guy was really stupid enough to think that any of that was an incentive to turn himself in. He was making his way through a large vent that ran behind the closet he had been in and he hoped into his room. He really needed something on his feet. He could hardly walk and it was going to make it more than a little difficult to fight the off the bad guys this way. 

"You have 30 dobashes to turn yourself in, if not I'm letting Crog lose to find you. He is a fine hunter, never comes home empty handed, and he is more than a little upset about you killing his sister's son. I really don't think you want to know what he is going to do to you if he catches you. We are in the main hall of the castle, where these dirty gawlflogs were celebrating their victory before we interrupted." 

The chilling laugh that followed that statement did nothing to make Lance feel any better about his situation. He managed to make it to his room. It felt oddly safe, he didn't think the Nitomian's could fit through the vents so his trail should be hidden. He made his way to the bath and washed off his feet and tried to pick out more of the crystal. The pieces were just so small he couldn't get a hold of them all. He used the rolls of bandages from earlier to re-wrap his shoulder wound. 

He just didn't know what to do with his feet, if he wrapped them tight it just drove the tiny pieces still in there deeper into his foot, but he couldn't leave them a bloody trail where ever he went. He finally settled on the idea of putting on a pair of big heavy socks. He had knitted himself a couple of pairs when one he realized how cold the castle was at night and two how slick the nice straight halls were. He had more than a couple of bruises from sliding down the halls and into a wall, but they had been totally worth it.

"Hey Pal?" Lance tried the radio.

"Lanc-McClain, where are you?" Hunk came back.

"In my room, the bad guys want me to turn myself in so they can hand us all over to the Galra. They are holding everyone in the grand hall, including six of the representatives from this planet. They apparently already killed one of them." Lance frowned worried about these people and his friends. He didn't want anyone else to get hurt. 

"Yeah, the Nitomian military just arrived out here. They have a lot of guns and some tank-like things. I told them they couldn't get through the particle barrier, but they've been trying to knock it down since they got here. I don't think these are the hostage negotiation type, I think they're the shot first and ask questions later type."

"Are the Johnson agents out there or what? These guys in here will just kill everyone if they can't get out of here. They don't want us to be around to stop their precious Galra from returning." Lance spat. "You got to keep those guys out there in line."

"I'll try, but they are really mad. Apparently those guys in there with you worked with the Galra so much that they actually helped enslave and kill some of their own people." 

"That does not surprise me. Listen, I just remembered I have a set of radios in here. Do you know if there is a way to crawl through the vents from my room to the grand hall? Maybe I can slip one to Shiro and we can come up with a plan or something."

"Um…let me pull up the schematics in Yellow. Yeah, you'd have to do some crawling and a little climbing, but yes you can do that. There is a vent on the side of the staircase that you could get to and another one…oops no that one is in the ceiling, never mind just the one." Hunk was explaining how to get there when the door swished open.

"I will kill you!" Crog screamed from the door.

"Totally has not been thirty dobashes, that's cheating!" Lance screeched as he rolled under his bed and the wall he had been leaning against was filled with holes.

"I am going to cut you into little bitty pieces, you human scum!" Crog reached under the bed and grabbed for Lance. Lance kicked his hand and pulled himself out the other side. He was pulling up his rifle when Crog grabbed him and it and threw them across the room. 

Lance landed with a thud and the rifle fell from his grasp. He tried to reach for it but all his hand caught was his small bag from earlier. Crog grabbed him by the front of his shirt and slammed him onto the bed. The red Nitomian's eyes were crazed with anger and he was pulling a very large knife from the sheath on his ankle. 

"Now, I am so going to enjoy watching you scream!" He laid the knife against Lance's cheek letting the blade barely slice into the skin. He was so focused on what he was doing he wasn't paying attention to anything else.

Lance kept his eyes focused on the guy with the knife trying to carve his face, but had been reaching into the bag he had managed to grab. Without giving it away, he pulled out the little gun he had taken off the last bad guy. He brought it up slowly to Crog's head and touched it to the side.

"Why don't you drop the knife?" Lance asked calmly though the slice in his cheek was burning and there were tears in his eyes. 

Crog looked at him and grinned, like creepy killer, nutso freaky grinned. Lance knew, before he raised the knife and started to bring it back down, he knew what he had to do. He didn't hear the gun go off. It was like there was no sound. He didn't really feel the knife slice down onto his chest and deflect off his collarbone. Not in that moment anyway, all he felt was the warm spray of blood and chunks of whatever hitting his face and the horror of watching part of someone's head explode on top of him. 

And then the sound was back all too loud, he was gagging and pushing the body off of him and vomiting every bit of anything that was in his body onto the floor. He could hear Hunk's voice over the radio, calling to him, but answering was beyond him at this moment.

***End Flashback***

Lance pulled himself back into the narrow vent. He could do this. He could do this for his friends. And then they were all going to owe him - he wanted a pillow fort, garlic knots, and permission to sleep in for like three days.


	5. Chapter 5

Lance crawled up to the tunnel. He knew he had a climb ahead of him and he was dreading it.

"McClain, you okay?"

"No." He sighed and looked out into the tunnel that would take him to his destination. "How far up do I need to go?"

"Two levels. Lance, do we need to change this plan?" Hunk was second guessing putting Lance at risk.

"I can do this." Lance gritted out as he pulled himself onto the ladder. His feet screamed and his shoulder and chest hurt so bad he could hardly breathe. "I can do this." He didn't know if he was telling Hunk or himself. He knew he was the weak link in the team, but he was not going to let them down. If the army just rushed in his friends would die. They were already hurting and he was going to make sure they didn't get hurt anymore.

***Flashback***

Lance was finally able to talk to Hunk again when he was about three rooms into the vent system. Hunk had been pretty much screaming, begging, and crying the entire time.

"I'm here, sorry. I just…I'm sorry. I got the radios." Lance knew his voice was shaking, but he tried to pretend he was the character from the movie and killing the bad guys was no big deal. He didn't even feel any pain right now.

"Oh my God, Lance, don't do that to me. Are you okay? What am I saying, of course you aren't? You don't sound okay? Lance, are you okay?!" Hunk was beside himself,. He thought Lance had been killed, there were shouts and shots and that horrible person saying how they were going to kill Lance and Lance crying and screaming and he couldn't do anything! 

"Okay? Sure, I'm a bad ass New York cop in this movie remember. I got this. I totally got this." The delivery might have gone better if he hadn't sobbed out that last part.

"Oh man, I need to get in there. I need to help you." Hunk was desperate, but he sucked down his tears. He knew that Lance was hurting. He didn't know what all had gone down, but it was really really bad for him to be talking the way he was. "But I can't get in there right now, and you're right you totally got this. You're a bad ass ninja sharpshooter in real life anyway."

Lance laughed through his tears, "Yeah, right." He kept crawling through the vents, Hunk chatting with him and keeping him going the right direction.

"Okay, McClain, you're about two turns away so I'm going to have to be quiet on the radio in case they are near the vent and could hear me. You good, cowboy?" Hunk had been trying to keep Lance's spirit up and playing along with his movie thing as much as possible.

"I think only the bad guy called him cowboy, Pal." Lance took a left and could see the next turn ahead. "Okay, lets see if I can get to our friends."

Lance crept quietly forward, when he got to the corner he could hear voices up ahead.

"Keith, just sit still. I am going to go check on Shiro now. Stop trying to get up. It took me forever to get that wrapped and you're messing up my work!" Pidge's sharp words echoed clearly to him.

"Just, I just want to check on him." Keith sounded a little desperate.

"I know." Pidge's voice softened, "I told you he's unconscious. I wrapped his head and it's stopped bleeding. He's breathing good and his heartbeat is strong. I'm going to go talk to him a bit and see if he will wake up. Trust me?" Pidge asked.

"Of course, I just feel useless." Keith said resigned. "I hope Hunk is figuring away to get us out of here and Lance is staying away from that creep that went out after him."

"Yeah, me too. I'm really worried about them." 

Lance could hear movement and then the voice of the enemy leader, "What are you doing?!"

"Just moving back to check on the other one. I told you I have to keep their bandages tight or they could die. Humans are fragile." Pidge sounded angry and sure of herself. 

"Very well little one, just stay away from the Alteans, I've heard story of their magics. They will stay unconscious and under the forcefields. If you come near them I will shoot the red one again, and this time it won't be in the leg." 

"Honorable Overlord Brek, please, allow us to leave. We will serve you as before. Take these humans and Alteans if you like." A sniveling voice whined.

"Shut up. I can see the despise in the eyes of you fellow representatives. You may have no spine Bagtra, but they do and they will not bow to me again unless I make them." 

Lance made it to the vent that peered into the grand hall. It was about two foot off the floor and three foot by three foot in size. He could see someone was leaning back against the vent, someone with a bad hair cut.

"Keith." He whispered.

Keith startled and turned his head slightly. "Lance?"

"Yeah." Lance scooted to the vent and leaned his back so he was sitting just out of view, basically back to back with Keith. "I brought you a radio." 

"Thanks?" 

"Are they looking at you?"

"No." 

Lance pushed the radio through the vent into Keith's hands. "I have the volume turned way down on that so it will be hard to hear, but be careful. Turn it off or chuck it in the vent if they get suspicious."

"So, what's the plan?" 

"I'm stuck in an old movie. You see, I'm the hero and have to save the hostages - that's you. The bad guys have to keep trying to kill me, but Ho Ho Ho, now I have a machine gun," Lance paused for effect but Keith didn't appreciate it at all.

"Lance, be serious, Shiro's hurt. That guy with the big mouth smashed him in the head with the butt of his gun and he hasn't woken up since. You need to take this seriously."

"Seriously?!" Lance nearly choked on the lump in his throat. "I need to take this seriously? Do you know how a body twitches right before it drowns, like every muscle is trying one last time to get away? Or how about the way the blood comes out of someone's mouth when you shot them in the heart? Oh or maybe the way someone's head fucking explodes when you shoot them at point blank range with a weird alien pistol? I have brains and pieces of someone's head, skull, chunks in my hair Keith! If I would rather pretend I am a character in a quiznacking movie than have a quiznacking mental breakdown right here then you will quiznacking play along! You taking that seriously!" Lance sobbed out the last part. 

Keith was frantically shhhing him for fear one of the guards would hear him. Maybe he should have thought that previous comment through a little more.

"Sorry, okay, sorry, I'm just worried about Shiro, please be quiet." 

"Yeah. Are you hurt too, I heard them say you were shot?" Lance pushed everything aside and went back to character - he would be Hero cop now, damaged teenager later. 

"Yes, we were all in the conference room when three of the bad guys came in with guns. Everyone moved to fight of course, well everyone but a couple of the Nitomians. One of them cowered under the table, the other was with the bad guys and turned on us. The traitor hit Coran with some sort of energy weapon that trapped him in a forcefield of some kind. The alarms went off sometime after that. Shiro and I were near the door when four more came in and one of them had Pidge. She was hurt, we could see her eye was already swollen. The one holding her held her up by the throat and threatened to break her neck. We stopped. Shiro was near the leader and the thug just bashed him in the head, even though we weren't moving. One of the original ones hit Allura with the forcefield weapon and she went down. I moved toward Pidge and that's when the leader shot me in the leg."

"Are you okay?" 

'I wouldn't win a race right now." 

Lance chuckled darkly, "Me neither." 

"So they moved us all around the hall here, split up. I'm here, Shiro is near the foot of the stairs. Allura and Coran are the furthest away near the front doors, I think they are scared of them. The Nitomian delegation is in the middle of the room. They have everyone bound expect Pidge. She convinced them Shiro and I would die if she didn't keep tightening our bandages or something."

"Clever."

"Lance, they shot one of the Nitomian delegates. He was trying to talk them out of this and they shot him."

"Yeah."

"You hurt? Pidge thought you got shot."

"Yeah. I did." Lance quickly moved past that. "Hunk is stuck outside the particle barrier with Yellow and the Nitomian army."

"I can barely hear Red. She's pissed." Keith added.

"I hadn't, I hadn't, huh, I guess she is there." Lance reached out to Blue and realized she had been there the whole time, keeping him calm. "Hey Blue, you can't come and get us can you, beautiful?" And that was a big negative and a bit of a huff for not noticing her earlier. She sent him a picture of the first Nitomian that he killed throwing some devices into her hanger.

"Lance?"

"Blue sending me something about one of the bad guys throwing something at her. Must be what's stopping them." 

Keith frowned, Lance admitted he'd been shot, but he didn't know where and from the earlier outburst he had been in numerous fights and bad spots already. And now he sounded out of it and tired.

"Hey, Lance?"

"What?"

"Are you okay? Really?" Keith wished he could just turn and look at him without giving them away.

"No."

"Get somewhere safe. Next time Pidge is over here I'll find out what we need to do to get Hunk and the calevery in here." Keith just wanted to protect Lance at this point. It was driving him mad not being able to help anyone.

"I can do this, Keith, there isn't anyone else but me. I'm not just going to go hide." Lance spat angrily.

"Not what I meant."

"How many are in there?"

"Four, the leader, and three others. Two of them are by the doors. The leader moves around a lot and one of them is always by Allura and Coran. There were others, but three of them went out after you."

"Three? Great. That leaves at least one unaccounted out here somewhere."

"Quiznak, the big one's up to something again, he's getting on the com system." Keith stilled.

"Paladin! You chose not to come and my hunters have not returned. Perhaps you would turn yourself in for a better reward?" The leader grabbed a green skinned Nitomian and pulled him to his feet. "Bagtra, please tell the Paladin why he should come in."

"Turn yourself in Paladin, the Overlord is just. He will do as he says. If you only submit you will not be harmed." 

In the vent Lance huffed his disbelief. Keith growled.

"Or better yet," came the Overlord's voice, "turn your self in or this one dies."

"What?" Lance whispered at the same time Keith hissed, "NO!"

"Keith, he's going to…"

"I know exactly what he is going to do, and you can't turn yourself in. If you do who's going to play the role of hero? It's like you said earlier there isn't anyone else but you." Keith hissed determined to get his point across.

"But?"

"Lance, just go, I'll contact you on the radio when I get a chance to talk to Pidge. Be ready. We'll find a way to get the army in. Just get as far away from here as possible before he…"

"Times up!" The sound of a shot echoed across the hall.

"Go Lance, this wasn't your fault, there was nothing you could have done."

"Yeah, right." Lance couldn't help but think if he was Shiro or Keith or Allura or Pidge or Hunk or anyone but Lance he would have been able to stop this. A few dobashes later Keith was able to send Lance the plan to drop the particle barrier by remote. Lance, Hunk and Keith discussed and came up with the next steps. There were loopholes in the plan. The biggest being were was that unaccounted for bad guy, but it was a good plan, a solid plan - and Lance was still terrified he was going to fail and more people were going to die.

***End Flashback***

The tears in his eyes as he pulled himself back into the horizontal vent were only partly from his physical pain.

"Hunk?"

"Yeah, Lance?"

"I'm going to need two batches of garlic knots from you when this is over."

"You got it buddy." Hunk felt tears of his own sliding down his cheeks. The painfilled sounds his friend made climbing that ladder were going to hunt him for the rest of his life.


	6. Chapter 6

Keith leaned his head back against the vent. The radio was still carefully hidden behind him. He had been able to talk to Lance briefly and knew the remote was in place. Pidge was waiting by Shiro. Keith was going to try to make it to Allura and Coran as soon as the barrier went down and the rebel Nitomians were distracted by the onslaught. Lance was going to provide cover. It was solid. It was the best they could come up with. It could go wrong so many ways.

Keith leaned back and toggled the radio, "Lance, are you in place?" He whispered without moving his lips.

"He's close Keith." Hunk came back. "He was a little out of breath after making it to that level." Hunks' tone told Keith how worried he was.

"Okay." And it was probably his own worry that made him let his guard down. "Let me know when he…ahhh!" The Overlord grabbed the front of Keith's shirt, his hands were still bound behind his back. He lifted him so high his feet weren't touching the ground.

"What are you doing? What is that?!" The Overlord pointed to the radio dropped behind Keith.

Keith kicked his feet trying to struggle out of the grasp of the monster in front of him, trying to draw air past the grip strangling him. He couldn't breathe he was started to see spots.

"Keith!" Pidge screamed.

"Stay back little one or I will end him and you." the Overlord aimed his weapon at Pidge with one hand and shook Keith with his other.

Pidge raised her hands and back away toward Shiro. The Overlord threw Keith against the wall. He grabbed the radio from the floor.

"PALADIN!" He screamed into the radio. "PALADIN!"

"What?!" Lance's voice came back surly and loud.

"I have your attention, finally. Where are you?"

"Around."

The Overlord fired his weapon and the bullet slammed into the wall near Keith's head. "Don't make me angrier than I already am Paladin! You won't like the results!"

"Wrong movie, wrong character, the Hulk is a good guy." Lance muttered.

"What are you talking about, this nonsense will not save you?" the Overlord was not amused. He grabbed Keith and pulled him in front of his body.

"You cannot escape me! Where are you?! Where are you?!"

"Why would I tell you? So you can come and kill me?" Lance asked like he was stupid.

"Not me."

Lance froze. He could hear someone moving, someone moving through the vents near him. These vents weren't as narrow as the ones that he had been earlier. These vents were big enough to let one of them into them. The one that wasn't accounted for, one of the ones sent to kill him. He was nearly to the vent that overlooked the hall. He was the sniper part of this plan and it was his job to keep the hostages safe. If the Overlord and his goons tried to kill the hostages; it was his job to stop them.

"Just keep talking Paladin, she will find you soon," the Overlord laughed. "Speak Paladin, you seem to enjoy talking nonsense. What nothing to say now?"

Lance held his breath. He was in place. He could see the Overlord and all three of the others from his vantage in the ceiling. All he had to do was activate the radio. The particle barrier would drop Hunk would attack, and bang, bang, bang, Lance would take out the bad guys. But the moment he did that the one hunting him would know exactly where he was. Or if he mouthed off to the bad guy again, or dropped something, or made a noise, or too many ors too many possibilities. What would the hero do?

"I'll make it easy? Speak or I break this one in two?" the Overlord held Keith off the ground in front of him again.

"I didn't really think Keith would be playing the part of Holly." Lance pressed the button.

"More of your nonsense will not save you or him." The Overlord moved his other hand to break Keith's neck when a shot silenced him. A hole between his eyes ended any further observations. He dropped Keith who fell with a groan, barely conscious.

A loud noise from outside indicated the approach of the Nitomian army and Yellow. Before the others had a chance to react - bang, bang, bang - and Lance's job was done.

The creature behind him didn't even make a sound as she drove a knife into Lance's back. Lance screamed and tried to roll over to get away and bring his rifle to bear. There wasn't room and the creature held him in place.

"I will take you with me. The others may be gone, but I will return to the Galra with you as my prize and I will be rewarded." She slammed Lance's head into the vent until he stopped struggling. She then proceeded to drag the blue paladin through the vent system back the way she came. With the particle barrier down, she only had to make it to the ship they had hidden in the Yellow Lion's hanger. It had been ingenious to use their inside man to discover the details of the trials being conducted. When the security was down to begin the test, they snuck their own cloaked ship in as the Yellow Lion exited. They were then in position to trap the Lions before making any moves on the rest of the Paladins. The Overlord may have been the figurehead, but he was not the only brains in the operation.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunk's turn :)

Hunk was having the worst day in his entire life. It was worse than when he had the flu. It was worse than when he puked five times in the simulator on the same exercise. It was worse than when he found out he couldn't go back to Earth. It was awful, horrible, no good, yeah there really weren't words enough to describe this day.

It had started out pretty good. Pidge and him working their magic, making the least stealthy, but most fortified of the lions cloaked. Yellow would be so good for prisoner breakouts and transport missions. Pidge had installed what she needed. She shutdown the castle ship defenses while Hunk snuck Yellow out and it was to be a day long game of hide and seek. Pidge had even set up some Galra scanners to look for Yellow as well as the usual castle systems.

And he had been having a blast. Pidge wasn't even close to finding him. They had been up and down and all around. Pidge had been growling the whole time. Even though she was the main mind behind the cloaking technology she didn't like losing. Hunk pointed out to her that she was winning either way and that had seemed to satisfy her.

And then Pidge had cut off mid-sentence, and then the particle barrier had gone up. Hunk had spent he didn't know how long screaming into the radio for Pidge, then trying everyone else. All with no answer, nothing. He had done everything he could think of to amplify the radio. He was near panic attack when he finally heard from Lance. And somehow hearing from him had made it better and like a billion times worse at the same time. There had been explosions and gun shots and screaming and crying and Hunk's heart just couldn't hardly handle it all. He just wanted to break down the wall to give Lance a hug, make sure he was okay, give him another hug, and then never let him out of his sight again. He was going to put trackers on all of the paladins and Allura and Coran. He had designed it in his head as he waited. He even knew where all the parts where in his workshop.

And then as bad as it had been hearing that Lance was hurt, and then hurt, and more hurt, and the others were captured, and Keith was shot and Shiro was unconscious and Coran and Allura where in some sort of weird knock you out forcefield - then it got worse. He didn't know if Keith was alive, he had heard the entire thing from both radios. He could feel pride and absolute terror for his friend when he fired the shots. He didn't think he could feel more and then more sounds and thumps and not good and that horrid woman's voice saying she was taking Lance. And that was just well - Nope.

At that point scared Hunk, terrified Hunk, nauseous Hunk, worried Hunk, trying to play along with Lance's delusions Hunk - all of those guys just got out of the way cause now he was just pissed off Hunk. Done Hunk. Going to squish some ungrateful Galra loving traitorous evil witch Hunk. He pulled up the scanners inside the castle. He knew where Lance had been so he started looking around anywhere that vent let out. He literally growled when he got them on camera. She had Lance tossed over her shoulder and there was blood. There was a lot of blood. He waited a few minutes until it became obvious where she was headed. There was only one thing that far out in the castle. He had once complained about Yellow's hanger being the farthest away and not near anything else, but today, today he was glad of it.

"Let's get her Yellow." He could feel his lions deep growl in response. Yellow had been as distressed as Hunk, she could feel her sisters' distress at being unable to reach their paladins. They swung out of the main hall and around to Yellow's hanger. He was not letting that, that, puta get away with his best friend.

The Yellow Lion landed in the hanger just as the Nitomian woman was creeping through the door. She startled and yelled. She ran for her ship, the paladin slapping against her shoulder. All she needed to do was get in and activate the cloak. These idiots would never be able to track her. Her ships maneuverability and speed could easily outdistance the Yellow Lion. As long as the rest were still pinned down by their shielding devices she would make an easy get away. She laughed to herself as the paladin over her shoulder groaned. He was going to do a lot more than that when the Galra got their hands on him. She had opened the door to her ship and was climbing up the ramp when something slammed into her face and she found herself lying on the ground looking up at the Yellow Paladin.

"Nope. Just Nope!" He leaned forward, picked her up by the shirt and punched her once more in the face. Her eyes rolled backwards and she went limp. Hunk dropped her and scrambled for Lance. He gathered him up into his arms.

"Pidge! Coran! Anyone?!" Hunk yelled over his radio, hoping someone was able to hear him.

"Hunk?" Pidge answered.

"Pidge, I've got Lance, he's…it's bad. Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, the Nitomians helped get Allura and Coran free and they were fine as soon as the fields were deactivated. We are heading to the med bay and the healing pods with Shiro and Keith. Can you meet us there?"

"Yeah. On our way," Hunk clicked off the radio and looked to Yellow. "Watch her girl, if she tries anything just blast her." Yellow growled her agreement.

"Lance, I'm getting you to the cryopods. Just hold on buddy." Hunk didn't even bother to try to figure out what all was wrong with Lance, there wasn't time. He just held him close and ran.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coran Coran is a gorgeous man :) and this is his chapter

Coran went to sleep and when he woke up his whole world was gone. His wife and son had already been taken from him and he didn't think he could feel grief anymore. He put on a mask every morning. Positive talk for the war worn King, positive words for the naïve and brave princess, positive message to the torn alliance, and smiles all around. Oh he thought Alfor and Allura saw through it at least to some extent, but it was who he had become. Who he had to become to move on and still be a person. He was wrong, though, when he awakened from stasis he was disoriented and concerned, but when he found that it was all gone - the whole world and that he had slept so long, grief stabbed his heart in a way that he did not think could happen again. So forgive him if his first reaction, upon walking from sleep to once again find that while he had slept chaos and evil had attempted to take his world from him, was to smile and laugh. If he were to let loose the heartbreak and terror he don't think he would ever stop crying.

"Well, that is a fine mess, then isn't it." he laughed and looked about. Shiro was lying on the ground on the other side of the room, a bloody bandage around his head. Keith was propped up against Pidge his breath stuttering and strained and he grasped at his throat. Pidge's left eye was swollen completely shut and most of her face was purple blue, dried blood crusted under her nose and around her eyebrow. Allura was being freed from a forcefield next to him, by the group of Nitomians they had been meeting with or at least most of them. There were bodies. There were other Nitomian's with weapons and armor sweeping through his castle. Allura seemed unharmed as she awakened and sat up. She was rubbing her head.

"Princess, I think we've a bit of a diplomatic situation here. I need to attend to our paladins." He smiled brightly and reached out a comforting hand to her, and she did not acknowledge that she could feel the tremors as his hand shook, though it was violent enough that he could see it.

"Yes, Coran, go." Allura stood. She reached out to the diplomats and began asking them what was going on and what had happened.

Coran rushed over to Pidge. "Number five?"

"Coran, Keith is having trouble breathing. Shiro has been unconscious since we were first attacked. Lance has at least been shot and probably more. I don't know where Hunk is, he was going to come in with the army and then him and Yellow went back out." She was close to tears.

Coran examined Keith's throat, there was dark bruising and swelling. It seemed someone had nearly crushed his windpipe. "There now, Number four, steady breaths, slow and easy. Now do we have communications set up with Number two?"

"Um, yes, there." she pointed to a radio.

Coran picked up the radio and brought it over to Pidge. He went over and knelt next to Shiro. His breathing was shallow and when he checked his pupils they were not the same size and he did not respond to any stimuli. This was not good.

"We need to get Number One and Number Four to the cryopods as quickly as possible. Allura?!" Coran rushed back to the Princess and quickly explained what he needed. She gestured and had two of the Nitomian soldiers pick up Shiro and Coran picked up Keith. Allura seemed to have the Nitomian delegation in hand. They were being escorted out and most of the military was leaving as well. They had gathered the bodies from the hall and were carrying them out with them.

"Coran, I will be there as soon as our guests are safe and the castle is secure!" Allura called to him, her need to be with her team was obvious in her tense movements, but she presented herself as calm and in charge to all but those who knew her best.

About halfway to the medical area, Pidge got a call from Hunk on the radio.

"Pidge, I've got Lance, he's…it's bad. Are you guys okay?"

Coran's heart sank. How bad was it that Hunk didn't even address the injuries. Shiro and Keith were already critical. He braced himself, it had been a long time since his days treating multiple injuries on a battlefield. He would need to stay calm, positive, and act decisively. There would be no time for second guessing.

"Alright, you fellows, Number one on that table there. Number five, please activate the neural scanner. Number four, I need you to remain calm, I understand you are worried, but if you stop breathing I am going to have to stop taking care of the others to take care of you. Just sit here and pretend you're as calm as a Skipsonian Sandworm. They can sleep for an entire decopheeb." Keith gave Coran a look between bug eyed and angry. Coran wasn't really sure how to interpret it, but there wasn't time for it anyway.

The scanner that Pidge had activated was now sounding off a horrible alarm and blinking red. Coran rushed over to Shiro just as Hunk came sliding in with Lance. Coran had to steady himself against the bed Shiro lay on. Lance looked dead. There was blood everywhere and for a moment Coran was in a different med bay and a different boy had just been brought in.

"Quick as a Jibblynibblet, Number two, put him on the emergency scan table and activate it, we have no time to spare. Number five, bring me the suit. I have about three dobashes to get Number one into the cryopod before the pressure in his skull causes irreparable damage." Coran squashed the memories of his long dead son and focused on the task at hand. He could lose all three of them if he made the wrong choice. No matter how much he wanted to find out how badly Lance was injured Shiro was out of time.

"What?!" Keith sat straight up and immediately began choking. Just as Allura came running into the med bay.

"Allura, thank the stars! Help Number Four into a suit and put him into Crypod three. The damage to his neck is severe. Use caution to keep his head and neck as steady as possible."

"What about the leg wound?" Allura asked as she moved to assist Keith into the suit.

"Quiznack! Scan it with the hand held scanner quickly, be sure there is no foreign matter in it. If not then proceed to the pod." Coran had completely missed the secondary wound. He talked as Pidge and he worked with extreme speed. He was lifting Shiro into the pod and Pidge was activating it, by the time Allura finished her scan.

"The projectile traveled straight through, it did significant damage, but there is no debris." She had already dressed him in the suit by the time the scanner had completed. She lifted him easily and placed him into the pod. He was barely conscious and his breath was whistling painfully when she closed the lid and started the pod.

"Coran!" Hunk yelled. "The scan is done, everything's red, I don't know what to do!"

Coran rushed to Lance's side along with Pidge and Allura. The two Nitomian soldiers who carried Shiro stood to the side.

"Hunk, apply a pressure bandage to the shoulder wound. Pidge apply the sealant spray to the wound on his back and the one on his chest. Allura, start a vein valve, he has lost too much fluid. The broken bones are not out of place, so they will heal well in the pod. However, I must remove the debris from the wounds on his feet before he can go in." Coran forced his nausea away. The wounds were significant and Lance could die before he was even put into the pod. His feet looked like they had been shredded. He applied a thick foam spray and winced when Lance groaned and cried. He knew that it would be painful, but he didn't know how else to remove the fine slivers of crystal that had embedded themselves so deeply. As the foam hardened it adhered to the crystal, now all Coran had to do was pull it loose. He removed the first as quickly as possible and Lance screamed. "I am sorry Number three. It must be done and quickly. We have to get you in the pod if you are to survive."

"It's okay." Lance slurred.

Coran was shocked that he had remained awake. Hunk had turned and emptied his stomach on the floor. Pidge had covered her ears and stood stock still, frozen in her horror. Allura smoothed back Lance's bangs and whispered something in Altean, it might have been a lullaby her mother used to sing to her.

"I have to do the other one." Coran looked up and met Lance's eyes and waited for his nod. He quickly finished the other foot. Lance screamed shortly and passed out.

"Quickly now Allura, lets transfer him in. Has the pouch you attached emptied through the vein valve?"

"Yes."

"Good it contained what he needed to replace enough fluid to sustain him through the healing process." Coran and Allura lifted Lance into the first pod and Pidge activated it, awakened from her stupor by the last scream.

"Now," turning to Pidge Coran spoke, "Number five, please sit up on the exam table. I need to check you over as well."

"I'm fine Coran." She stated.

"If by fine you mean you look like you battled one of the face sucking eels of Hadnasta and lost, then yes, you are fine." Coran guided her to the table and picked up the handheld scanner. "Are you injured anywhere else?"

"Just my wrist," Pidge held out her arm suddenly shy and seeming so very young.

In the meantime, Hunk having emptied his stomach, recognized one of the officers he had been waiting with before. He let them know where they could find the traitor in Yellow's hanger.

"Coran, I must go check on the lions, their distress has lessened now that the imminent threat has been addressed, but they are still quite unhappy." Allura moved to leave as the officers were also leaving. "I will escort you to the hanger you need." These men had been with the army and had assisted, but Allura wasn't quite ready to let random Nitomians loose in the castle just yet.

"Very good Princess, but do come back so that I can run a complete check on you as well. And Number Two step over here and be ready for your turn. You can help me get Number five in her pod. You, my dear, have a fractured bone in your face and severe bruising and some damage to your ocular nerve as well, but never fear, all within the power of the cryopod to heal." Coran smiled his mustache bristling with energy.

"Coran, I wasn't even inside. I'm not hurt at all. You don't need to scan me."

"Oh, but I certainly do Number Two, protocol and all." And there was no way Coran was going to feel safe again until he had checked every inch of every single one of them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some Pidge Angst per request :)
> 
> The rest of the story is very much on the comfort/healing end of the world. I needed them all patched up by the end :)

Pidge sat on the floor in front of the three occupied cryopods. She was not crying. She didn't care who said otherwise. She was frozen in place. Her brain just couldn't get past a single thought that kept wrapping itself around and around her skull like a vicious little python. "It's my fault." Over and over and round and round it wormed.

Coran had put her into a pod shortly after examining her. She was in for about a half a day. She had awakened to a warmed blanket and Hunk's eager hugs. Coran and Allura were asleep on a makeshift bed. Hunk said the forcefield had actually drained their quintessence a bit and they were exhausted.

Allura had said she expected they would sleep for at least an entire day and not to worry. She had established that there were no other life signatures in the castle and set the perimeter alarms on their most sensitive settings. She had also contacted the Nitomians and basically gave them the don't call me I'll call you line.

Hunk had found a stash of some kind of food goo bar and hydration packs. He had gathered blankets from Allura's room which was the closest and there were enough in there to keep everyone comfy. Pidge just thought he didn't want to go in the castle by himself right now. He was sitting in front of Lance's cryopod snoring right now.

She gave a little sniff. He was exhausted too. He had stayed up until she got out. He told her Coran had scanned him three times before he had decided he really wasn't injured other than a couple of busted knuckles. Hunk told her he had punched someone who deserved it. He had some bandages on his hand and he said Coran had put a cream on it to reduce any swelling.

When she got warmed up, he made her check her vision on an impromptu vision chart. She seemed to answer everything to his satisfaction. She wondered where her glasses were. They had fallen off when she had gotten smacked in the hall. She shivered remembering the anger in the asshole's face. Then allowed herself a little grin. Shiro couldn't stop her from cursing in her mind. Then again Shiro couldn't stop her from cursing out loud right now. And this was a highly curse worthy day.

"Damnit." She muttered. Shiro should be out in another few hours. Coran had told Hunk less than a day. Shiro had almost died. Pidge remembered the terror that nearly choked her when Coran had announced they had only dobashes. She had sat with him that whole time. Just wrapped a bandage around his head and watched him while the whole time he had been dying. He could have died in that room and she wouldn't have even known it until she came back to check on him. It was wrong. He didn't look like he was dying. He got hit in the head. She hadn't even thought about the possibility that whole time. She hadn't even considered it and now it was all hitting her.

"Shit. Stupid." She needed to be better. She had gotten taken by the aliens with hardly a fight. They'd snuck up on her with their guns and threats and she had just gone down. One swing of her bayard, which was deflected into a door and got stuck. Then they'd just grabbed her and no matter how much she struggled or swung or twisted or hit or tried to bite, nothing loosened that grip. And then Lance had been there, and he looked freaked out and wet. And then they shot him and she thought they were going to kill him. Another one almost gone and she just stood there and watched, unable to lift a finger.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity Fuck." And it was all her fault. She had overheard enough to realize that there was a traitor in the Nitomian delegation. A traitor she had told all about the trials she was running. Because of course they needed permission to run that sort of thing on the planet and - Stop. Stop making excuses. Pidge had told them the plan an they had told the Galran sympathizers and they had used her plan to sneak into the castle. Her experiment had nearly killed Lance, nearly killed Keith, nearly killed Shiro, could have killed them all. Her experiment could have been the end of Voltron. The end of any chance of fighting Zarkon, any chance for the universe to be free, and the end of any chance to save her family. All, everything, nothing left and it was all because she had messed up.

So maybe she was crying, or sobbing, or at least had snot running down her face. Lance would tell her she was ugly crying she was sure. She bowed her head into her hands and didn't see Hunk wake up and walk over. She did hear him sit down beside her. She felt his hand on her back.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. Everyone is going to be okay you know," he whispered as he rubbed circles on her back.

"No thanks to me." she muttered.

"Oh hey, what do you mean?"

"I did this. This is all my fault." she wailed and threw herself into Hunk's arms.

"How do you figure that?" He stroked the back of her head.

"This whole thing would never have happened if I hadn't told the Nitomians about my experiment," she murmured from his shoulder.

"I think it was our experiment and you had to tell them. I didn't want them shooting at me while I was flying around mostly invisible." Hunk comforted.

"But I didn't have to tell them I was giving you a head start or that to make it fair we were shutting down the defenses and then powering up." Pidge pulled back angrily her face red.

"No, I guess you didn't, and I guess we won't next time. But honestly Pidge, I didn't think anything about it either. We wanted our new allies - the one's we'd just freed - to understand how we were working to better rescue prisoners. If I recall they had several people taken from their planet and they were eager to hear about what we were doing to get them back." Hunk gave her a sad half smile, "I guess we are going to have to get more used to people lying to us. Most of the Nitomians wouldn't have done this and I can tell you their military was really angry that those Galra sympathizers," he practically spat the words, "were even still running loose. I guess they thought the one's they didn't catch had been off world and maybe gotten taken out with one of the cruisers we took down."

"It's still my fault Hunk. Not knowing that one of the guys was a spy wouldn't have made me feel any better if Shiro had died, or Keith, or Lance." She shook her head in denial of even thinking about it. "I messed up."

"Pidge, I know that you took care of Keith and Shiro when they were hurt. Coran told me that if you hadn't bandaged up Keith's leg as well as you did that he could have bleed to death. You saved him. And how to shut down the particle barrier without blowing up the ship was your idea. I wouldn't have been able to get in and the military wouldn't have gotten in. And if that had happened then you all would have been dead or turned over to the Galra. And you did all of that being half blind out of one eye, which you should have told someone about," he admonished, "and with a broken face. I think that's pretty impressive, doesn't sound like someone who messed up."

"I watched Lance get shot and I couldn't stop it. I couldn't get away from them."

"Pidge, if you are trying to blame yourself you are going to find some reason no matter what I say. I had to listen to all kinds of terrible things, including Lance getting hurt, and Keith almost getting choked to death, and then there was the time I was stuck out there and I had no idea what was going on and Yellow and I couldn't get to any of you. I was just as much a part of this experiment as you, in case you forgot, is it just as much my fault then? Allura's the one that invited them into the castle is it her fault?"

"No."

"Right, either it's our fault, or it's not, doesn't get to be just you. I'm not saying we shouldn't learn from this and make some changes. We are going to have to, but this isn't anyone's fault other than those stupid evil galra butt kissing sympathizers!"

"Ass-kissers." Pidge giggled.

"Language, Pidge!" Hunk laughed.

He wrapped his arms around her and they laughed until they cried.


	10. Chapter 10

Keith came out of the pods next. Hunk and Pidge had a warmed blanket ready for him. As soon as he warmed up, though he was off to check the castle. He needed to see for himself that it was clear and that the lions were okay. Hunk made him put on his paladin armor and wear his helmet so that he had a constant communication line.

"Where are you now Keith?" Hunk asked. He was asking about every fifteen dobashes.

"Still on my way back from Yellow's hanger. The ship is still there like you said. It's empty and I made sure it is completely powered down, so it shouldn't be a threat. I would still feel better after you and Pidge give it a thorough look through, either that or we jettison it into space and blow it up." Keith growled. He did not like the feeling that Hunk was checking up on him constantly. He wasn't one to be micromanaged, but then Hunk was a little nervous. Hunk had threated to put some kind of tracker on his armor before he left but Keith had said the radios would be enough. He wished he could find some bad guys to beat the snot out of or shoot or run through with his sword. He had anger that really needed dealing with before he blew his top.

To be honest he was still worried about Shiro, but sitting and waiting for him was going to end with him yelling at Pidge or Hunk and they didn't deserve it. He decided maybe he was going to run to Black's hanger next.

Keith had run to each lion's hanger. The Lions were all seated and not active. Seeing them this way helped Keith to release some of his tension and worry. If there was someone still in the castle he didn't think they would have shut down. He was sweating and out of breath. He made it to the control room and did a double check on the alarms. He found everything in place. Hunk had said Allura had locked it all up, but he needed to see for himself. Too much had gone wrong and he had spent too long today without any control over what was happening. He spotted a glare on the floor and bent down to pick up Pidge's glasses. They must have knocked them off of her face.

"Keith?"

"Yeah, Hunk." Keith had become resigned to the frequent check-ins.

"About 20 dobashes and Shiro should be out. Coran just woke up as well."

"On my way. Thanks, Hunk!" Keith grinned and decided he could run a little further.

Shiro stepped out of the pod into Keith's waiting arms.

"Hey, Shiro."

Shiro really wished that he had any idea of why he was in the pod, or how he got in the pod, or why Allura was sleeping in a pile of blankets or why Lance was in another pod. He almost fell on his backside as his brain failed at trying to process the gap in his memory.

"Easy, there, Number one. Have a seat. Number two bring him one of those food bars and a hydration pack. His body has been almost a day and a half without liquid or nutrition." Coran eased Shiro over to an exam table and helped him sit up on it.

"Coran, I…what…how?" Shiro looked around.

"Easy now, Number one. I have a few questions." Coran ran Shiro through a series of fact questions while he ran a scan over his head. He checked his reflexes and had him perform a series of exercises that looked and sounded ridiculous, but when questioned he was adamant that they were necessary. Finally he finished and gave Shiro a grin, "I am happy to report, no brain damage."

"Brian damage?" Shiro stared at Coran in horror, what had happened here.

"Shiro, what's the last thing you remember?" Pidge pushed her glasses up on her nose and touched his knee.

"I remember getting ready for the Nitomian delegation. I was in my room. I don't remember getting hurt, or anyone else, why are we here?" Shiro was confused and frowning. He was a little panicked actually, but there is no way he would let that show to his team. Lost memories wasn't something he was unfamiliar with, but in his experience that usually meant very bad things had happened.

"Okay, first, you've been unconscious for most of what happened, so you're not missing as much time as you think." Pidge tried to reassure him and in an odd way it did.

"I thought you weren't supposed to tell amnesia patients what happened? Doesn't it mess with them getting back their memories?" Hunk asked.

"I don't think it would hurt, Hunk. He's not missing much time where he was awake like Pidge said." Keith didn't like seeing Shiro this way. He knew him well enough to read the fear he was hiding.

They spent the next several dobashes going over what had happened from each of their perspectives. Shiro asked questions and put it together in his mind. Their were parts and pieces missing because Lance was still out, but Shiro was getting a pretty clear picture of what had happened. His heart pained him when he realized how much each of them had dealt with. His fear spiked when he looked back at Lance in the pod, from Keith's description Lance had been forced to kill multiple enemies at close quarters. He couldn't remember if any of their past missions had put him in that kind of situation, but he didn't think so. Being able to deal with enemy deaths from afar was very different than dealing with it face to face.

"Okay, so Allura locked down the castle, Keith did a perimeter check, and we are completely secure, correct?" There were nods all around. "Coran how long until Lance is out?"

"Oh well, it looks like at least another quintant maybe two." Coran answered checking the pad on Lance's pod.

"Alright, Pidge, I need you to go repair whatever you had to undo to let the particle barriers down." Pidge nodded but looked nervous.

"Keith, until we feel a little safer I want you to keep an eye on Pidge." Pidge looked embarrassed, but relieved. Keith nodded seriously.

Shiro smiled. Those two needed something active to do and that would keep them busy for awhile.

"Hunk, can you get some clothes down here to be ready for Lance and then we can work on getting a meal ready for everyone tonight."

Hunk nodded and then laughed, "As long as you promise to not touch any actual food. Keith told me you burned tea."

"He did, did he?" Shiro gave Keith a glare.

"Hey Pidge, lets get to work." Keith hurried Pidge out the door.

"And I will be here with the Princess and Lance." Coran offered.

"Thanks, Coran." Shiro smiled at the mustached man. "We owe you our lives." He walked over and grasped his hand firmly to convey his sincerity. "Really, thank you. Thank you for saving me and the others."

"It was my honor to serve." Coran managed to say choking up a little and a tear running down one cheek.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It never seems like anyone has to clean up after a fight, did you ever wonder what it would be like? Sure ship repairs, people repairs, but who scrubs up the blood?

Shiro was heading for the kitchen. Allura had awoken as Hunk was getting ready to leave and he had waited to talk with her and be sure she was also up to date on the situation. She had headed to the control room. She mentioned something about needing to clean something up in the hallway, but Shiro had been more focused on his relief that she had managed to smooth things with the planets delegates and army. She really was an amazing diplomat, this could have ended very poorly for relations.

It wasn't until he came around the corner in the hall to find Hunk vomiting on his hands and knees in the hall outside of Lance's room that he placed the comment about cleaning. He ran over and put a hand on Hunk's shoulder. He could see into Lance's room. It was beyond gruesome, it's no wonder Hunk's stomach hadn't been able to handle it.

"I'm sorry Hunk, I didn't think about it." He rubbed his hand on Hunk's back in slow circles while the young man got himself together. Once the heaving stopped there was some sobbing to go with it.

"I just, I heard it on the radio, but I didn't think it would I mean, I couldn't do anything and he was getting hurt and then he had to kill that guy and his head is like gone and it is horrible and it was awful and I couldn't help him and he has to live with this and ow God…"

"Hey, just being there on the radio with him, that was something. He wasn't completely alone. It's bad. I get it, but we can both be there for him when he wakes up, right?" Shiro felt his own guilt eating away at him. At least Hunk had offered something, Shiro had been unconscious the entire time, he hadn't been able to help anyone. His team had suffered. He had failed them. He knew he couldn't protect them for long in this war, but he hadn't been ready for them to face this yet. He hadn't been ready for Lance to kill someone this way, this close. It changed people. It had changed him. Well there was something he could do now at least.

Shiro keyed his communicator, "Hunk just discovered a body and from your story there will be more. I can handle clean up, if you can help me place where to look."

"Shiro, I am handling the one near the control room." Allura answered. "I can assist you when I have completed. The Nitomian delegates informed me that the bodies should be incinerated, that this would be appropriate by their culture."

"I can assist with that princess." Coran offered. It was not the first time that this had happened in the Castle of Lions, after all it had been a vessel of war. "Just bring the remains to the med bay and I will take it from there. I also have cleaning supplies that will be useful."

"Thank you, Coran. We are at Lance's room. It's going to take awhile, but I am hoping we can have everything cleared before Lance wakes up." Lance did not need to see any of this, Shiro could at least protect him from that.

"The swimming pool, Shiro." Pidge's voice quietly offered.

"The kitchen." Hunk whispered into Shiro's shoulder. "I'm pretty sure there too."

"The military took care of the ones in the hall." Allura added, "But there will still be cleaning to do."

"Okay. Well then I'm going to go start in the kitchen. Hunk, why don't you head down with Keith and Pidge and see if they could use some help until it is cleared."

"No." He quietly answered.

"What?"

"Shiro, I need to help with this. I know you are trying to protect me and I know I just puked and cried and all, but Lance had to do this and I need to be a part of helping. I know that doesn't make sense."

"It makes perfect sense, because Pidge and I are coming back to help too." Keith answered over the com.

"Paladin's, we don't want you to have to…"

"What, Allura, deal with the fact that being in this war means we kill people? We are already dealing with that." Pidge answered sharply.

"I'm sorry. I know that, Pidge, but…"

"No, Allura. This is something we all want and need to do. They were in our home. I need to see them out of here. Lance had to deal with this, this time, but next time it could be any one of us." Keith answered calmly.

"Besides, I already finished the repairs." Pidge snarked. "Let's clean up our home."

It took several varga to get everything cleaned up. The supplies that Coran had proved to be very helpful. Finding and understanding each death helped Shiro feel more prepared for what Lance could have to deal with when he woke up. He was going to have his own nightmares to deal with from all of this.

Hunk managed not to vomit again, but he silently cried the entire time he worked. He found himself checking in on the others frequently throughout the day. He just couldn't shake the feeling that they might be in trouble. Every conversation he had during the siege kept playing back in his mind. He knew more than any of the others the impact these deaths would have on his friend's soul and he cried for him. He felt it himself and he cried for that too. It was cathartic in a way, crying over a loss he couldn't really comprehend, but coming through it stronger. He knew Lance would too.

Pidge had the unenviable task of cleaning the vents. The mice had shown up, apparently they had been hiding in Green when she'd been trapped. They went through the vents with her. Knowing that she was washing away Lance's blood had her imaging what he felt crawling through the vents. She was glad of the mice and their company to keep her distracted. She kept looking over her shoulder, constantly worried that someone would come up behind her. Eventually the mice noticed and sat a mini guard around her allowing her to relax some.

She knew Allura and Shiro were worried about her seeing the dead guys up close. It was odd, because they surely weren't the first people they had killed. The logical side of Pidge's mind had very early on dealt with the fact that big explosions on alien ships meant someone probably died. It was simply a price she was willing to pay to find her family, to stop an evil from spreading, to protect innocent lives; and if the cost was that her life wasn't one of those innocent ones anymore so be it.

Keith was stoic, studying the attacks, the weapons, wondering how he would have handled each scenario. Knowing that there were several instances he might have fared better, but others where Lance's skill with the firearm proved very effective. He would need to do some more range training. He found it easier to separate himself from an emotional response. Viewing this all from a detached distance made it easier to deal with, maybe it wasn't the healthiest coping mechanism, but it was one he had learned at a very early age.

When everything was complete they all met back in the med bay. Coran let them know it would still be another eight varga before Lance was ready to come out of the pod, but that everything was looking well and he would be fully healed when he emerged. A silent agreement was reached and they all brought blankets and pillows and crashed in various places around the med bay.

Allura wrapped up in her blanket on the far side of the room and turned her face to the wall, she didn't want them to see her tears. Removing these bodies from the castle reminded her of the taste of war she had before she had lost 10,000 years. Those faces, blended with the new ones and nightmares filled her sleep.

Shiro waited until Hunk, Keith, and Pidge had fallen asleep before he allowed himself to lie down. He knew what would be coming, it was almost inevitable. As he slept his mind provided him with images of himself tied up, restrained, behind bars, held away from his friends and family, unable to help them while they were hurt or worse. He never knew how much of these were real memories and how much just nightmares, either way his sleep was restless and troubled.

Coran couldn't close his eyes. He knew it was irrational, but it was the case, he was afraid to sleep. He had forced himself to sleep earlier due to his complete exhaustion. But now he just couldn't. He sat across from the others keeping watch over them all. When Keith rolled out of his blanket he rearranged it around his shoulders. When Pidge sat up mumbling in her sleep, he patted her on the head and helped her lie back down. When Hunk had awoken and asked where everyone was, Coran had assured him that they were all here and safe. When Allura stirred and he found her with silent tears streaming down her face still asleep, he wiped them off and kissed her forehead. She breathed deeper and the tears stopped. When Shiro woke screaming Galra arm activated, he spoke soothing words and talked with him quietly over a warm drink until he drifted off into a more restful slumber. Coran watched and watched, but he could not sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Lance once again fell out of the cryopod. He really wondered why they made these things in such a way to drop the recently healed onto the floor. Sometime between the pod and the floor a warm blanket wrapped around him.

"Got you buddy."

"Hey, Pal." Lance smiled up at Hunk who had pulled him back upright.

"I can't say you looked any better than Officer McClane at the end of the movie." Hunk pointed out.

"I look better now, though, right?" Lance wrapped an arm around Hunk's shoulder.

"Well, you look like you." Keith commented dryly from nearby.

"Exactly, thank you, Mullet. Obviously much better." Lance flashed his million watt smile at Keith and Keith just huffed. At the same time a small body crashed into his side and attempted to crush him.

"Pidge, he needs to breath." Shiro commented.

Pidge drew back a little and then swung a fist and punched Lance in the leg. "Don't do that again."

Lance winced and rubbed his leg, "Which part Pidgey? I'm all good, see?" He lifted her face and smiled for her.

"It is good to see you awake." Allura walked into his line of sight and offered him a smile. He definitely didn't blush, much.

"Indeed, my dear boy, very good to see you up and about. I have a few tests to run and then we will get some nutrition into you and then I'm afraid you'll need to get some rest." Pidge and Hunk gave Coran a hearty set of Ahh's over that, but they knew it was right.

"Okay, but can you answer some questions for me. I'm a bit fuzzy on some of the details, like how long have I been out" Lance asked quietly. There were some large holes between what he last remembered and waking up in a healing pod.

"I can do that while Coran runs his tests and you've been in the pod almost three quintants." Shiro answered. He wanted to get an idea of how Lance was doing too.

"And I owe you a plate of garlic knots so I'd better get to work on that recipe." Hunk tried to lighten the mood and remind Lance of something good.

"Oh yes! I can eat like twelve, so don't skimp!" Lance smiled and laughed, he wasn't aware everyone in the room could tell the smile wasn't quite reaching his eyes.

"Come on then, the rest of you on about your way and give him some privacy." Coran grabbed Lance's elbow and blanket and guided him over to the exam table.

"Yeah," Lance looked back and waggled his eyebrows at the others, "no strip tease for you."

The others laughed, not quite as loud as they might have if Lance's joke hadn't sounded flat, and headed out the door.

Coran and Shiro helped Lance up onto the bed. Coran began running scans. Shiro talked quietly answering Lance's questions. Coran checked every inch of the boy twice. All of the minor cuts had healed completely, as had the knife wound to his chest and the cracked ribs. The gunshot and the knife wound in his back had left faint scars. Coran frowned as he knew how much Lance cared about his skin. His feet had developed significant scarring. He supposed it could be due to the thickness of the skin in the area or just the way the damage was inflicted or how much walking he had done on them after the fact. He didn't find any traces of crystal left at least and that was something he had been very concerned about. However, the nerve endings didn't seem to have healed perfectly.

"Lance, do you feel anything?" Coran lightly touched a thin metal piece of the scanner to his foot.

"No."

"This?" He pressed more firmly.

"Yes. What are you doing?" Lance looked concerned.

"I believe you have some minor loss of sensation in the soles of your feet due to a build up of scar tissue. I am sorry."

Lance closed his eyes and touched his feet to the edge of the bed. It didn't feel that much different. He went to sit up and suddenly his head was swimming with dizziness and he would have fallen back if not for Shiro's quick reflexes.

"And I was about to ask if you were feeling dizzy, I will take that as a yes. You are more dehydrated than I like and your blood has not restored itself to optimum levels just yet. I would like to put a vein valve in and get you some fluids quickly. You will recover the remainder within a couple of days with rest and proper nutrition."

Coran seemed off to Lance, he hadn't told a single story or made a weird animal reference yet. He was being so serious. Lance looked down at his hands and realized they were still covered in dried blood. The more he looked at it the more he could feel it all over himself dried and crusty, dirty. He rolled over and dry heaved. He felt a hand on his back rubbing soft circles and could hear Shiro talking quietly telling him it was okay. He managed to stop his stomach's rebellion.

"Um…I really need to get clean, please." He didn't like how desperate his voice sounded, but he needed this and he needed it now.

"There is a seated shower here in the med bay." Coran pointed to a door Lance hadn't opened before. "I don't want you walking down to the regular ones with your dizzy spell and nausea. Hunk brought you some clothes earlier. I will set them in there for you to change into. I should warn you there is some scarring on your arm and back." Coran cringed at the added frown on Lance's already drawn face. "As soon as you're changed then I'll need you back in a bed for the fluids. I'll want to keep on eye on you down here tonight."

Lance nodded. He had not considered going to his room until Coran mentioned the clothes and he realized he had no desire to be anywhere near his room right now.

"Now, Shiro and I are going to be out here and if you need us don't hesitate to call." Coran shook his head at the near shocked look Lance gave him. "My boy, you have nothing we haven't seen and you are just out of a pod and dehydrated and dizzy and there is no shame whatsoever in asking for help." Coran's mustache practically bristled daring Lance to disagree.

Lance nodded solemnly, "Thanks." From nearly anyone else he would have thought they were calling him weak or needy, probably Coran and his mom were the only two that could have gotten away with that offer.

As Lance showered Coran prepared his bed.

"Does he really need to spend the night?" Shiro asked quietly.

"Yes."

"For his sake or yours?"

Coran looked up sharply at Shiro ready to defend his decision, but seeing the gentle look in the other's eyes he deflated. "Both. He really does need the fluids or he'll spend the next day being nauseous and it would make it harder to drink and eat what he needs to recover fully." Coran sighed. "I also suspect that he will experience what you humans call nightmares and difficulty sleeping. I had planned to administer a light sedative so that at least tonight he could sleep soundly. And you are right, I am not ready for him to be out of my sight - not any of you really."

Shiro smiled and laid his human arm around Coran's shoulders. "I know how you feel. I'm not really ready either. Do you mind if I keep you company?"

Coran smiled genuinely, "I would very much appreciate that, Number one."


	13. Chapter 13

Keith stopped by while Lance was still hooked up to the IV. He said Hunk's first batch of garlic knots had gone very wrong, like exploded as he pulled them out of the oven bad, and Pidge and Hunk were scrapping the purple batter off of the walls. Keith patted Lance on the shoulder and said he'd see him in the morning. Lance had accused him of hiding from the cleaning. Keith did not deny it.

Allura stopped by next. Coran was just adding something to the vein valve. She got an update on Lance's status and let him know again how glad she was that he was making a full recovery. She gripped his hand and thanked him for saving all of them. He blushed a lot.

Pidge and Hunk were next and Coran was pulling the vein valve as they arrived. Lance was smiling in a goofy doped up kind of way and he asked how the cooking was going. Though the fact that he kept giggling gave away that he already knew. Hunk promised he was going to try again tomorrow. Pidge claimed to have found the volatile chemical that had caused the minor explosion and that pulling one of the ingredients would solve that problem. She and Hunk wandered off discussing what to replace it with.

Lance knew Coran had given him something to sleep. He was still afraid to let go. Every time he closed his eyes he was somewhere else, somewhere not good.

"Let the medicine work Lance, you'll be asleep before you know it." Shiro was standing by his bedside.

"I don't want to be asleep." The drugs had definitely lowered his natural barriers.

"I know, but Coran said it would help you."

"I'm afraid." The quietly spoken words nearly broke Shiro's heart.

"I know what it feels like to be afraid of sleeping, Lance, but your body needs it." Shiro soothed.

"When I close my eyes I'm somewhere else. I can't stop thinking about them." Lance muttered his speech slurred, the medicine obviously trying to work.

"My boy, tell me about your rain." Coran requested.

"Rain?"

"Yes, once you told me you liked it and I told you some about mine, but I don't recall much about yours can you tell me?"

"It smells a certain way, not like anything else, it smells clean and fresh and crisp. Sometimes it falls so softly that you don't know its happening until you realize you are wet. Sometimes it falls so fast and hard that the water builds up on the ground before it can be soaked away. The best is when the storm moves in slow and you can hear the rain falling and moving. You can hear it on the water and in the trees and on the metal roofs, moving closer and you can smell it on the wind when it blows through your hair…" Lance's eyes drifted further and further closed with each word until at last he slept.

"Sleep well, my dear boy."

****

The next morning, Hunk came to get Lance for breakfast. Coran gave him the a clear for leaving the med bay but cautioned that he was not to exert himself for the next two quintants as he would tire quickly and could become dizzy until his blood and fluid levels were back to normal.

"Come back in eight varga for a check up, drink plenty of fluid, and no training." Coran called after them again.

"Got it, Mom!" Lance waved back.

"Mom?" Coran turned to Shiro concerned. "Did I check his brain, was he concussed?"

"I believe he is implying that you are being over protective." Shiro managed with a straight face.

"Oh. Well, yes, better safe than sorry. I remember one time when King Alfor was dehydrated and didn't listen to my warnings. He fell on his face in the middle of a parade."

Shiro nodded as Coran continued with the story that somehow involved the lions, fireworks, and some sort of pickled relish.

***

Hunk and Lance were laughing and joking around coming down the hall. Everything was going well until they walked through the entrance to the kitchen. Hunk had made pancakes and was excited to show Lance the results which even Keith had said were pretty good. He was two steps in when he realized Lance hadn't followed him. He turned to find him standing in the door staring into the kitchen. His eyes wide and unseeing and his breath coming in sharp gasps.

"Lance?"

Lance couldn't think, couldn't breathe, just couldn't. He heard the explosions and felt the crystal shards cutting into him. He felt the hands reaching for him, trying to choke him. He swung his fists trying to push the enemy away. He may have screamed, which didn't make sense because he still couldn't breathe. Somehow he found himself on the floor and he kicked out, feeling his foot connect solidly with flesh. He curled up and wrapped his arms around his knees. His mind just wouldn't stop panicking. He couldn't focus or think or breathe. He felt someone grab his arm and he started flailing again, but the grip was firm. Something poked his arm and he felt a coolness spread from the site through the rest of his body. His muscles relaxed, his breathing eased and slowed, he became aware of voices and sounds around him, and he became very ashamed. Opening his eyes, Lance cringed to find Shiro, Coran, Hunk, and Keith standing around him.

"Sorry." He whispered.

Hunk knelt down beside him, his lip was bleeding and his eye was starting to swell.

"I'm so sorry, Hunk." Lance tried to sit up, but a wave a dizziness stopped him.

"Hey, I'm okay. That stuff Coran gave you was like a muscle relaxant, let me help you up." Hunk got Lance sitting up.

"I hit you." Lance couldn't help but feel ashamed of having had some kind of fit and hurt Hunk. Hunk who was just trying to help him. And of course in front of Shiro and Keith. He really wished the floor would swallow him.

"Well, I don't think you were aiming at me, I think you just kicked and I didn't move." Hunk patted his back.

Lance didn't think he deserved a friend like Hunk. He never judged him for his weaknesses.

"Lance, we're going to get you up and over to a couch in the lounge area. Is that okay with you?" Shiro offered.

"Sure. Sorry." He was having trouble focusing on the Shiros there seemed to be three of them.

"You don't need to apologize." Shiro said as he and Hunk lifted Lance to his feet. Lance was weak in the knees and leaned heavily on them. "Just a few steps and we'll be to the couch."

"I feel like my legs aren't attached."

"I may have given him too much of the Barthmop serum. I will have to cut back for the next human dose." Coran smiled brightly and made a note on the bottle he was carrying.

Lance felt like he was more floating than walking. His feet weren't touching the ground and the ground felt like it was made of clouds. Based on the way Keith was smirking he was concerned that he might have said that part out loud. He found himself sitting on the couch. Like literally suddenly he was there and wasn't entirely sure how it had happened. Now Keith was actually covering his mouth trying not to laugh so he was really pretty sure he had said that part out loud.

"Lance, just relax. I'll bring you some food." Hunk moved to go get what he needed from the kitchen, but suddenly Lance had a hold of his arm.

"Don't, don't go in there." Lance looked scared and worried for Hunk.

"Hey, it's okay, it's all safe now." Keith who had been smiling was serious now.

"No, he came around the corner with those grenade things and it's everywhere." Lance's eyes darted around not entirely focused on any one thing.

"Hey, that was a few days ago. The only ones in the castle are us. You saved us from the bad guys, remember? Everything's all back to normal now." Hunk patted Lance's arm that was still holding tightly to him.

"You saved me." Lance focused suddenly on Hunk. Lance remembered Shiro telling him that Hunk had rescued him from that horrid woman.

"Yeah, I guess I did." Hunk blushed.

"Thank you." Lance wasn't sure if he thanked the Hunk in the middle or one of the other three, put he was pretty sure he had a good grip on the one on the right.

"Ah you don't have to thank me, it's what friends do, right? I wasn't going to let them take you away from us. Not after I spent all day listening to you fight for us and not being able to help you. No way was she getting to take you!"

Hunk nodded his head as if agreeing with himselves, or at least that's how Lance saw it. He may have giggled at that.

"I'm going to go get you some food, maybe a little something in your stomach will help with the loopiness."

***

The next time it happened was three days later. He was walking with Pidge to the control room, he had been avoiding that one certain hallway for the past few days, but he was busy chatting and didn't notice where he was until it was too late. This time he didn't pass out but froze. It was like he was suddenly transported back in time and he could hear the Nitomian's bringing Pidge around the corner and feel the pain of the shot slamming through his shoulder.

He came back to reality on his knees with Pidge kneeling in front of him. She had one hand resting on his shoulder and the other one on his cheek trying to get him to look at her.

"Hey, you back?" she had tears standing in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Pidge." Lance hated this new weakness, it wasn't like he didn't have enough already. What good was he if he had a panic attack from walking down a hallway.

"Don't be sorry, Lance. It's okay. The first time I walked this way after I had one too." She admitted looking him in the eye. "I just wish I had been stronger, that I could have fought them off. If I wasn't so weak they wouldn't have caught me. They wouldn't have shot you."

"What? No way Pidge. Those guys were stronger than Shiro, I couldn't have beat them either. I couldn't beat them, I left you with them. I ran away and just left you with them. I am sorry." Lance reached up and touched her hand on his cheek.

"No, If you hadn't run they were going to kill you. You had already killed the one and the leader knew it. It's just that the whole thing was my fault anyway." Pidge turned away and pulled her hand loose.

"How? How can you think that?" Lance asked quietly.

"It was my experiment that let them in here. My idea that got you almost killed."

"No. It was a bunch of Zarkon loving freaks that are to blame for hurting me and you. Your experiment was to help people." Lance reached out to her offering a hug.

"Hunk said sort of the same thing after it happened." Pidge wiped a not tear out of her eye, cause she was not crying.

"Hunk's a pretty smart guy."

"He is, you know what he told me after I had the flashback in the hall here?"

"No."

"It's normal. It's your mind's way of dealing with what happened. It just needs time to process." She smiled sadly at Lance. "So stop thinking this is some kind of weakness you need to apologize for - it is normal. It is your mind's way of dealing with all the shit that happened."

"I don't think Hunk said shit." Lance smiled slyly. The others were always correcting her when she cursed.

"Nope, that's all me. But I think it's a good word to describe everything that happened." She took Lance up on the offered hug and surged forward into his arms.

"You are kind of awesome, you know that right?" Lance laid his head to rest on hers and the terror of his flashback faded away.

"Yep." Pidge answered smugly.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allura or Keith you decide :)  
> A little more angst and a little more comfort for the boy in blue

It was about a week later that Allura found him standing in front of the door to his room crying in frustration. It was the middle of the night and he had awoken from a nightmare about something happening to his family. It had happened before since they had been in space. He knew all he needed was to look at their picture and see their smiling faces and he would be okay, but the picture Pidge had printed him from his phone was in his room. The room that he had not yet been able to get himself to go in. The room that held a memory so gruesome that he had vomited just thinking about going in there. It was not a memory he wanted to re-live.

He had been sleeping in Hunk's room, but Hunk was sound asleep and it was the middle of the night and he thought he could do this himself. So there he was crying and pacing, his face red, muttering to himself. He wiped harshly at his face when he saw Allura coming his way.

"Oh, hey, I didn't think anyone else would be up." He nervously avoided eye contact. He didn't want to see her disapproval. He should be over this already.

"I was having trouble sleeping. The mice reminded me that Hunk had left some cookies in the fridge. Would you like to join me?" She offered calmly.

He was surprised she admitted to having trouble sleeping . He would never have guessed it. It did make sense, though, she had so much pressure on her.

"I, well, I just need to get something out of my room first." He took a step toward his room and then to his utter embarrassment he froze again. "Quiznak." He hung his head.

"Lance, could I walk in with you?" She offered.

"Oh, you don't have to do that, I'm sorry, I know I just need to get over this and I shouldn't be letting it bother me and everything…" he waved his arms around as he spoke clearly flustered.

"Lance." She grabbed his hand as one of his arms went waving by. "Did you know the first night after the attack that we all slept in the med bay?"

"What? No?" He stopped talking to look at her.

"We were all afraid to be away from each other, and away from you." She looked into his eyes to convey her sincerity. "I am still having trouble sleeping. I wake up several times a night and need to check the sensors to be sure we are alone in the castle. Let me do this for you? I was unable to help anyone that day, held in that hateful suspension field, not even able to offer comfort to Pidge or Keith, let alone aid you in freeing us. Please, let me help you now."

Lance felt warmth replace the tension in his body. She meant it. She didn't think he was weak for this at all.

"Okay, I just want to get my family picture. I had a bad dream and I needed to see them."

"Of course," she held his hand and took a step forward and with her by his side Lance was able to walk into the room.

It wasn't a magic cure-all and he was assaulted by the memory of the feel of blood and other things splattering on his face as soon as he saw his bed, but he was aware it was a memory not trapped in that other time. Allura's hand kept him grounded and he held tight to her until they had recovered the picture and left the room. They chatted about his family over cookies in the kitchen. Allura even told him some about King Alfor and her childhood. When they had both relaxed enough they headed back to the rooms they had come from. Lance wasn't quite ready to sleep alone in his room, but he wasn't afraid it would never happen now.

***

He never would have expected the next one to comfort him would be Keith. It had been a few days since he had met Allura for cookies and he had decided to confront another area he had been avoiding - the pool. He loved the water and he loved swimming and Blue had been nudging him along that he needed to reclaim this place because it was important to him. He got dressed, walked down to the pool and sat at the edge of it, not even putting in a big toe.

It wasn't a panic attack, or a flashback, or even dramatic memories. He just sat and thought about it. This was where the entire thing had started for him. One guy trying to kill him in his pool. He had been here because he had screwed something up, again. He had been sent away where he couldn't mess up the talks. The irony that it was only because he had been sent away that they had even survived. He kept seeing all of the things he did wrong or could have done better, every step that highlighted his weaknesses. He was horrible at close quarter combat, most of the fights had been won with a tremendous amount of dumb luck. He wasn't good enough with the tech stuff. He couldn't amp radios or shutdown shields without Hunk and Pidge's help. He wasn't so blind that he didn't know that if he hadn't been able to do what he did the entire team, the castle, and most of the Lions could have fallen into Galra hands. He just wished it hadn't been such a close thing. That he had been good enough that it wouldn't have been a surprise to have him save the day. He was sitting there quietly contemplating all of it when Keith sat down next to him and nearly gave him a heart attack. He hadn't heard him coming at all.

"Gahhh! Are you trying to kill me?" Lance grabbed at his heart dramatically.

"No." Keith answered and just continued to sit there.

"Something you need?"

"No."

Lance just looked at Keith and Keith looked at the pool. "Why are you here?"

"I was going to go swimming. I'm not as good at it as you and I need more practice."

"Why you just need to beat me at everything?!" Lance asked exasperated.

"No. You were able to beat that guy in the water. I don't think I'm a good enough swimmer to do that. I need to be better." Keith answered flatly looking at Lance with a nearly blank expression. It was only due to near constant exposure that Lance was able to detect the tension in his jaw and widening of his eyes. Keith was actually worried about this.

"Yeah, I beat him, because he thought he could take me out easy and left his sword up here. If he'd brought that I wouldn't have made it. I didn't beat any of them in hand to hand. The food goo machine and a well placed pistol are all that saved me in those cases." Lance noted.

"But your marksmanship was perfect, the guy in hall would have killed you, not to mention the one that tried to break my neck. I was hoping when you were feeling better you could, maybe, give me some pointers? And if you want I could go through some hand to hand with you? I'm not as good as Shiro, but I will show you what I know."

Lance stared at Keith. One that was the most he had ever said at one time like ever, but it would probably ruin the moment to point that out. Two he just admitted he needed Lance's help, Mr. Perfect needed his help with something more than hair style advice - also possibly rude to point out. Three it was a really great idea.

"I would like that." He smiled at Keith, a soft genuine smile that he saved for rare occasions. "And I can help you with the shooting and the swimming if you want."

He jumped into the water and instead of feeling afraid he felt strong. The water really was his element. He faintly heard Blue purr her approval.

"So, bet I can hold my breath longer than you?" Lance challenged.

"Of course you can, I just said you were better at this." Keith grumbled, moment ruined.

"Right. It's practice, Mullet head. Once you can hold your breath long enough we can improve your freestyle stroke easier. You take too many breaths right now. It slows you down."

"Oh. Okay." Keith jumped in and with a nod to Lance they both ducked under the water.


	15. Chapter 15

It had been nearly 14 quintants since the attack. The castle repairs were complete. Everyone was healed physically and even Lance had been cleared for full duty. Allura had been working with the Nitomians setting up their governing body. The ruling class had largely been Galra supporting so it had taken a great deal of effort to form a government ready to run a planet and one that would be supported by the people when they left. Thankfully Allura was a magnificent diplomat and the Nitomian people who remained were very grateful for their help and rescue. So as it was when she announced that they would be leaving, the people begged to give them a farewell party.

Allura offered the hall in the castle as a location for the party. People had been coming and going all day hauling in supplies and decorating and everyone in the castle was completely on edge. Allura had said they needed this. They needed to overcome their fears. Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge had decided to use it as an exercise for their new security protocols. Hunk had implanted microscopic trackers in each of their arms. They could be activated by tapping a certain sequence onto the spot on their arms. This way they were not on all time, possibly allowing someone else to use it against them, but only when they were needed for emergency. It wasn't perfect but it made Hunk feel better.

Pidge had installed scanners at every entrance to the castle. Shiro suspected she hadn't been sleeping much. They would feed full body scans into the computer and it would identify weapons, bombs, or anything else dangerous entering the castle. Shiro had increased the number of emergency stashes around the castle and included full armored uniforms in each cache per Lance's request. Each cache also included an enhanced radio that could reach beyond the particle barrier, a rifle, and an expandable staff. They had drilled on radio codes to use in hostage situations and memorized several key vent conduits throughout the castle.

Keith had still objected, he didn't see that it was a risk that needed to be taken. Allura had overruled him stating that this was part of being on a diplomatic mission. If they wanted people to join them and support them they had to be trusted and secretive people were hard to trust. Keith had then asked to go over the guest list and had offered to check people off as they came in to be sure no one who wasn't invited showed up.

Lance had stayed back from all of it. He cringed when he saw the Nitomians and had to practice some calming exercises to stave off the panic attack that threatened just at the edge of his mind all day. The others each had stopped to check on him and make sure he was okay. They weren't going to just leave him alone to handle it. He didn't think they realized he hadn't been in the hall since the day of the attack. Of all the rooms, this was the one he had dreaded entering the most and it didn't make sense until he saw the Nitomians and the overwhelming guilt had threatened to choke him.

He had failed that one poor fellow that had been shot, traitor or not, he wished he hadn't been responsible for his life. He had killed eight of the invaders. He had killed eight people. It wasn't like it was the first time he had killed anyone, he wasn't stupid, but this was different. These guys - he had looked into their eyes, he remembered their faces. He wondered if they had families. Did he kill someone's son or someone's father? Did their families miss them? Couldn't he have just wounded them and not killed them?  
He was lost in these thoughts when Coran came up next to him.

"Number three." Coran simply stood next to him shoulder to shoulder as they looked down from the balcony onto the party starting up down below. "Parties haven't been that lucky for us have they?"

"No." Lance recalled their first party when he and Coran got blown up.

"Homesick tonight?"

"No."

"Quarter for your thoughts? Or was that how it went?" Coran frowned.

Lance smiled slightly not looking away from the party. "Penny. The saying is Penny for your thoughts."

"Hmm… well yes, what is troubling you dear boy?"

"I killed them."

"Yes. It had to be done." Coran nodded sadly.

"Did it? Did I have to kill them? What if they had families? What if I killed someone's brother?" Lance asked anguish in his voice.

"At nearly each junction it was either your life or theirs. They chose to put you in that situation. They were the aggressors and you reacted to protect yourself and your team, if you had died then we all would have been lost." Coran placed his hand on Lance's shoulder, so very glad he was here to be comforted.

"But not the last three." Lance whispered.

"What was that?"

"The last three, were just standing guard. I didn't give them a chance to react. The first ones were very much trying to kill me and didn't give me a choice. The big one was trying to kill Keith and didn't give me a choice, but what about the last three? I just killed them. They didn't even know what hit them." Lance let the tears fall down his face. This was what had kept him out of this room. This was the guilt he hadn't let go of yet. Guilty for killing without need. Guilty for feeling guilty because he was supposed to be a warrior and this shouldn't be bothering him so much. Guilty for being weak and pathetic and not good enough.

"The first Galra I killed was named Thax. He was about Shiro's age. I knew his father and his mother. He had been a member of Zarkon's court."

Lance turned to look at Coran who was staring off at the ceiling, but tears threatening in his eyes.

"I was visiting a farming outpost. He was part of a group of raiders, they were burning houses, taking prisoners. It was the very beginning of the war and we didn't really understand yet how bad the situation had become. We had not expected an attack on an innocent civilian operation. I was alerted to the attack and moved to intercept. King Alfor had asked me to wait for reinforcements, but I couldn't leave the people undefended. It was just me against a group of five. I killed them all. I didn't offer them surrender. I didn't wound them. I killed each one. Thax was the first."

"I'm sorry Coran I didn't mean to bring back bad memories." Lance hung his head.

"Lance," the use of his name surprised him into looking up. "It isn't a bad memory. It is just a memory of war. When I signed on to become a soldier in this war, I was ready to die for my cause. You, yourself, have already proven many times that you are ready to die in this war to save others. Though I do wish you would be a little more willing to protect yourself." Coran reached up and ruffled Lance's hair.

"The soldiers that day on that planet had signed up in the same way. They believed in what Zarkon stands for - they believed in Galra superiority and that the universe would be better off under their bootheels." He shook his head in disgust. "The thing is you can tell a lot about someone by whom they chose to follow. Take the three men you are talking about. I have heard a great deal about the one called Overlord the last several quintants. I heard what he did here, and I have heard of his horrible cruelty to his own people. He held frequent public executions, he tortured and murdered those that stood against him. He was a tyrant. Do you think that the followers of a tyrant would have laid down their weapons or killed us?"

"I don't know. I didn't find out." Lance cringed.

"Would you be willing to risk my life to find out?" Coran asked. "Or Allura's or Pidge's or Keith's or Shiro's? Because that was the choice you had to make in that split second. A split second where you had already decided to sacrifice yourself to save Keith. Don't second guess the decision you had to make in the heat of the battle. You made the best decision that you could with the knowledge that you had."

"I just wish I could be sure."

"Well I thought it might trouble you so I asked. Of the eight men that died - one was the tyrant overlord, one was his second in command and every bit as cruel, two were executioners who enjoyed their work, two hunted and killed escaped slaves even children, and the other two worked as torturers in the slave prison. There is no doubt in my mind they would have killed us all given the chance." Coran waited quietly for Lance's reaction. When he saw his shoulders start to shake and heard the quiet sobs he wrapped his arms around him.

"I still killed them, even knowing that, I still feel like I did something wrong, bad. I just…I don't want to feel this way." Lance turned into Coran's shoulder and cried harder.

"I know. I know exactly how you feel. Shiro and Allura know how you feel. My dear sweet boy, I wish that you did not have to experience the pain of war. I wish you had been able to explore and live freely as you deserved. I won't say that it is easy to fight for what we believe in or that it will stop hurting, but in a way it is good that it hurts. It reminds us that we are different than those who would kill without remorse. It reminds us that when this war is over more death will not be our solution. It reminds us of why we want to bring peace to the universe. And as much as I wish I could have spared you and all of the other paladins the pain of this war, I am so glad that you are here to fight with me. I couldn't think of anyone I would rather see in the lions than you. You all give me hope." Coran could feel Lance begin to relax in his arms. It would take time for him to recover completely, but he was well on his way. He was a great paladin and he was getting better every quintant. Coran wondered again at how marvelously lucky they had been to come across these amazing young people. Blue had outdone herself truly.

"Now don't we both look like a pair of dripping Satherwalkers? What do you say we go get cleaned up and join the celebration for this planet we helped to free? I think they deserve to see the two most handsome fellows in this castle, don't you?" Coran twirled his mustache and didn't even bother to wipe the tears from his face.

"Well, Shiro is already down there, but I suppose I should go also." Lance grinned wickedly at Coran through his tears and pulled out of the hug.

"Why you, sidewalking Caperstone, I'll have you know I have left broken hearts all over this universe just pining away for Coran Coran the Magnificent Man." Coran yelled in mock outrage.

Lance laughed and put his arm around Coran's shoulders, "Okay, old man, let's go get cleaned up for the party."

"Old man?!"

"Well you are over 10,000 years old."


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrapped up with a bow

When Pidge saw it the first time at the space mall she questioned whether it was a good idea or not, so she didn't get it, that and she didn't have enough gak. The next time she saw it at a different space mall and it was only a phoeb until Christmas she knew it must be a sign. It took her and Hunk most of the phoeb to figure out how to get it to work, but when the big day came they were ready.

Allura had purposely steered them into a remote and relatively quite part of the universe. It was a good time to give the castle of break and perform some needed maintenance that had been building up with their near constant work fighting the Galra. Shiro had also mentioned the upcoming holiday and it's importance on Earth.

That morning, Hunk made pancakes served with some kind of Altean candy syrup. Allura had literally giggled like a little girl. Apparently it was very similar to something her father used to make her for special occasions. Pidge had rigged lights all over the common area and made a little tree out of spare parts. Lance had cut out snowflakes from some paper he found and hung them all around the room.

Coran had told them about snowstorms on Altea where apparently the snow flakes were like razor blades and being caught in one meant getting ripped to shreds. Shiro was roped into helping Pidge set up a screen on one end of the room. She was very hush hush about its purpose so they supposed it had something to do with a gift.

Keith was wondering around quietly most of the time and kept touching the lights. Pidge had already swatted his hand like three times.

"What are you a cat? Quit batting at the lights!" Pidge swatted his hand again.

Keith blushed a little, he hadn't realized he was doing it that much, "It's just been awhile since I decorated you know. Dad used to put lights up all over the house." He looked so nostalgic about it that Pidge just ignored him touching the lights the next time.

Keith had volunteered to make chili for lunch and Hunk had cooked up a quadruple batch of his new space Garlic knots. True to his word Lance ate 12, though he may have regretted it. Coran and Allura had to chug milk to put out the fire in their mouths from the chili. The others looked on shocked as it hadn't seemed that hot to them.

After lunch the gift giving festivities began. Lance had literally knitted them all sweaters. Everyone was stunned that he actually knitted. He found it strange when he had talked about knitting before, he was sure of it. Allura's sweater was soft pink and sparkly with a cowl neck, Coran's was deep blue with a bold horizontal orange stripe across the chest, Shiro's was a black and white argyle sweater vest, Keith's was a matching red and black, Hunk's was a cable knit with a deep V in yellow, and Pidge's was an oversized forest green with a turtle neck. Shiro made each of them an origami lion in coordinating colors, Allura's was pink and Coran's was orange. Keith had carved wooden animals for each of them - a bear for Hunk, a wolf for Pidge, an Eagle for Shiro, a Dolphin for Lance, a Rabbit for Coran and a mouse for Allura.

Allura had managed to find chocolate at the last space mall and provided some to everyone - there was much rejoicing and groaning from Lance who was already too full. Coran gave each of them a funny looking hat that he said were very popular in his day. They were kind of like stocking caps with ears and tails and came in a variety of colors. They all put them on and along with their sweaters were looking quite comfy and colorful.

Hunk and Pidge had worked together and made each of them digital picture frames. They had apparently been collecting candid shots form the security footage for a while and the compilation was a good representation of life on the castle away from the battles. There was Lance swimming, Keith and Shiro doing some sort of Tai Chi, Hunk working on Yellow with grease on his face, Pidge half hanging out of a vent, Allura standing at the helm of the ship, Coran with his hands up in the air clearly telling a story, all of them gathered around the table, Keith and Lance arguing on the couch, Hunk cooking, Allura talking with the mice, Pidge sliding around the hallway in her socks, Shiro sleeping in his chair, Coran twirling his mustache, Lance scrubbing Blue with more suds on him than her, and on and on.

While everyone was enjoying looking through the photo's Pidge and Hunk set up Pidge's last surprise. Hunk had gotten into the spirit and made special treats to go along with it as well.

Pidge walked up in front of the screen and cleared her throat. "Ahem. I have another present. This is mainly for Lance, but you all get to enjoy it too. Hunk has helped me get it ready and prepared the appropriate snacks." She gestured to the door and Hunk came through carrying seven large bowls smelling of popcorn.

"Popcorn?!" Shiro asked surprised and delighted. He loved the stuff. He and Adam used to go through a large order every time they went to the movies.

"Well, it's pretty close." Hunk offered, "And it tastes good. Just a little more starchy? I think they are actually some kind of bean that I popped instead of a corn, well just try it." He handed the bowls out and everyone took a taste. It wasn't exactly right, but it was good and close enough for space popcorn.

"And now for our feature presentation," Pidge looked nervously at Lance hoping she had judged right and that he would appreciate the gesture. "Die Hard!" She pushed a button and a projector shown onto the screen and the movie was ready.

Lance stared at Pidge and at the movie and for a moment she thought she had been wrong, and then he smiled and laughed so loud she jumped.

"I love it Pidge! Awesome!" He got up almost dropping his popcorn and gave her a big hug. "Where did you find it?"

"The space mall, in the Christmas movie section."

"Is this the movie…" Keith looked confused.

"Yes, Keith, the one I kept trying to tell you about that you apparently have never seen, which is just wrong." Lance answered.

"Well, Roy, you'd better take your seat so we can get started." Hunk patted the couch next to him.

"Right, Pal." Lance grinned and stepped over Keith who was sitting on the floor. "Watch it, Holly."

"Why am I Holly, again?"

Lance laughed, "Just the one scene, I'm not kissing you at the end of the movie."

"What?!"

Pidge chuckled. "Watch it, Mr. Cowboy."

"Oh! I totally never got to say my favorite line from the movie! Yippee-ki-yay, mother…"

"Language!" Shiro yelled mid-line.

"Oh come on Shiro, it's the best line, please?" Lance begged.

"Fine." Shiro said covering up Pidge's ears.

"Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!"

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. Thank you for your comments and Kudos. As always any constructive criticism is appreciated and valued :)


End file.
